![Philipskippon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Philipskippon.jpg)
Philip Skippon (c. 1600,
West Lexham
West Lexham is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lexham, in the Breckland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north of the town of Swaffham, west north west of Norwich and north east of London. In 1931 the ...
, Norfolk – c. 20 February 1660) supported the Parliamentary cause during the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
as a senior officer in the New Model Army. Prior to the war he fought in the religious wars on the continent. During the
Interregnum
An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...
he was a member of Parliament, an active soldier and on occasions a government administrator.
Life
Background
Philip Skippon was the son of Luke Skippon (c. 1567–1638), the son of Bartholomew Skippon of
Weasenham St Peter
Weasenham St Peter is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
It covers an area of and had a population of 166 in 85 households at the 2001 census, increasing to a population of 169 in 86 households at the 2011 Census. Fo ...
, Norfolk. Luke and his elder brother William (born c. 1566) went to school at
Dereham
Dereham (), also known as East Dereham, is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of the England, English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about 15 miles (25 km) west of the city ...
and studied at
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...
. William lived at
Tawstock
Tawstock is a village, civil parish and former manor in North Devon in the English county of Devon, England. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Barnstaple, Bishop's Tawton, Atherington, Yarnscombe, Horwood, ...
in north
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
where he was Secretary to
Lord Bath, and died there on 1 January 1633/34. Luke (born c. 1567) had his seat at
West Lexham
West Lexham is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lexham, in the Breckland district, in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north of the town of Swaffham, west north west of Norwich and north east of London. In 1931 the ...
, Norfolk, and was father of two notable sons, Philip, and Luke (died 1676), who entered
Peterhouse, Cambridge
Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...
in 1614 and made his career there, becoming
junior Proctor
Proctor (a variant of ''procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another.
The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts:
* In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...
in 1633–34, and being nominated for
Mastership of the college in 1663 but not appointed.
To 1638
Philip entered the military profession at an early age and in July 1620 volunteered to join Sir
Horace Vere
Horace Vere, 1st Baron Vere of Tilbury (1565 – 2 May 1635) (also ''Horatio Vere'' or ''Horatio de Vere'') was an English military leader during the Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War, a brother of Francis Vere. He was sent to the Pa ...
's expedition to aid
Frederick V of Bohemia
Frederick V (german: link=no, Friedrich; 26 August 1596 – 29 November 1632) was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, and reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate both r ...
in the
Electorate of the Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...
. He served in it until the Bohemian defeat in 1623, participating in the two sieges of
Frankenthal
Frankenthal (Pfalz) ( pfl, Frongedahl) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
History
Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, aft ...
(where he was married in 1622). He then went on to serve
Maurice of Nassau
Maurice of Orange ( nl, Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was '' stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince ...
in the Netherlands, receiving a commission in 1625. At the sieges of
Breda
Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...
in 1625 and 1637 he was wounded, and under his old commander, Lord Vere, he was present when
's-Hertogenbosch
s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...
and
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
were attacked in 1629. By 1632 he was a sergeant major and led many of the sorties at
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
with distinction. He also became deeply interested in religion, writing small private religious volumes for his family.
1639–1644
A veteran of 18 years' experience, Captain Skippon returned to England in 1638. On 23 October 1639 he was recommended by
Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...
for a command in the
Honourable Artillery Company
The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...
and he moved to London to take up this command. With civil war looming, on 10 January 1642 he was made major-general and commander of the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
's
Trained Bands
Trained Bands were companies of part-time militia in England and Wales. Organised by county, they were supposed to drill on a regular basis, although this was rarely the case in practice. The regular army was formed from the Trained Bands in the ev ...
by Parliament in defiance of the king's authority, and two days later he mustered them to welcome the five members who Charles had failed to arrest. On 13 May Charles ordered Skippon to join him at
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, but Skippon replied "I desire to honour God and not to honour men", and Parliament declared Charles's order illegal. Skippon was absent at the Parliamentarian defeats at
Edgehill and
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
, but continued to train his men before marching them out of London to strengthen the forces of the
Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...
,
Captain-General
Captain general (and its literal equivalent in several languages) is a high military rank of general officer grade, and a gubernatorial title.
History
The term "Captain General" started to appear in the 14th century, with the meaning of Command ...
of the Parliament's forces. He then faced Royalist forces at the
Battle of Turnham Green
The Battle of Turnham Green took place on 13 November 1642 near the village of Turnham Green, at the end of the first campaigning season of the First English Civil War. The battle resulted in a standoff between the forces of King Charles I an ...
, encouraging his under-trained militiamen with the words:
Within a week of the battle Essex made Skippon his
Sergeant-Major-General, a post which carried with it the command of the foot and the complicated duty of arranging the line of battle. In 1643 his religious tracts written in the Netherlands were collected and published as ''The Christian Centurion'', one of many devotional tracts he published for his troops to read. However, his high level of experience meant that Parliament was unwilling to risk him in action early in the war, though he did serve alongside Essex at
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
. His first field command came on 20 September 1643, with command of the left wing and reserves at the
First Battle of Newbury
The First Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War that was fought on 20 September 1643 between a Royalist army, under the personal command of King Charles, and a Parliamentarian force led by the Earl of Essex. Following ...
. He continued serving with Essex during the disastrous
Lostwithiel campaign and was left in command of the Parliamentarian garrison of 6,000 there on 1 September 1644 when Essex and
Lord Robartes fled to Plymouth. The following day, without hope of reinforcement, Skippon negotiated with King Charles: having gained very reasonable terms for his forces, he surrendered and marched his force out of the town. He then gathered the infantrymen from that force in October and marched them to take part in the
second Battle of Newbury
The Second Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War fought on 27 October 1644, in Speen, adjoining Newbury in Berkshire. The battle was fought close to the site of the First Battle of Newbury, which took place in la ...
, occupying the centre of the high ground near
Stockcross
Stockcross is a village in Berkshire, England. The village lies to the west of Newbury in the civil parish of Speen and the district of West Berkshire. Close to the cross-road in the middle of the village were the stocks hence the name Stock-Cr ...
and recapturing seven of the guns they had lost at Lostwithiel.
1645
The appointment as Sergeant-Major-General of the
New Model Army
The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Th ...
soon followed, as, apart from his distinguished services, there was scarcely another man in England with the knowledge of detail requisite for the post. In this capacity he supported
Thomas Fairfax
Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 161212 November 1671), also known as Sir Thomas Fairfax, was an English politician, general and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War. An adept and talented command ...
as loyally as he had supported Essex. He led the centre at the
Battle of Naseby
The Battle of Naseby took place on 14 June 1645 during the First English Civil War, near the village of Naseby in Northamptonshire. The Parliamentarian New Model Army, commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, destroyed the main R ...
, where he refused to leave the field while victory was still in the balance despite being dangerously wounded. For his conduct on this decisive occasion, the two Houses of Parliament thanked him, and they sent him special physicians to cure him of his wound. It was a long time before he was fit to serve in the field again. He only reappeared at the
siege of Oxford
The siege of Oxford comprised the English Civil War military campaigns waged to besiege the Royalist controlled city of Oxford, involving three short engagements over twenty-five months, which ended with a Parliamentarian victory in June ...
, which he directed. At the end of the war he was selected for the command of the forthcoming Irish expedition, with the rank of marshal-general. The discontent of the soldiery, however, which ended in open mutiny, put an end to a command which Skippon had only accepted under great pressure. He bore a part in all the movements which the army leaders now carried out.
Post-war
Skippon endeavoured to preserve a middle position between his own
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
and the
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
s, and to secure a firm treaty with the king by any means. The army outstripped Fairfax and Skippon in action. The major-general was named as one of the king's judges, but, like Fairfax, did not take his place. After the war he was returned as MP for
King's Lynn
King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...
in 1654, 1656 and 1658 during the
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
. He also held high military and civil offices. During the
Rule of the Major-Generals
The Rule of the Major-Generals, was a period of direct military government from August 1655 to January 1657, during Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate. England and Wales were divided into ten regions, each governed by a major-general who answered to th ...
he was appointed to command the London military district (with
John Barkstead
John Barkstead (died 1662) was an English major general and regicide.
Barkstead was a goldsmith in London; captain of parliamentary infantry under Colonel Venn; governor of Reading, 1645: commanded regiment at siege of Colchester; one of the kin ...
as his deputy, who was zealous in suppressing immorality and ungodliness in the area under Skippon's control), where his popularity was always high— but ceased to influence passing events. He said little in Parliament, though his comment on
John Naylor ("If this be liberty, God deliver us from such liberty!") is well known. He was one of the members of
Cromwell's House of Lords
The Other House (also referred to as the Upper House, House of Peers and House of Lords), established by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Humble Petition and Advice, was one of the two chambers of the parliaments that legis ...
, and, in general, was universally respected and beloved. On Cromwell's death he was made head of the London Militia again by the restored Long Parliament. Age and infirmities prevented him from taking any part in the revolutions which culminated in the
Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
, and in March 1660 he died.
Family
He had first married Maria Comes of
Frankenthal
Frankenthal (Pfalz) ( pfl, Frongedahl) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
History
Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, aft ...
,
Lower Palatinate
The Palatinate (german: Pfalz; Palatine German: ''Palz'') is a region of Germany. In the Middle Ages it was known as the Rhenish Palatinate (''Rheinpfalz'') and Lower Palatinate (''Unterpfalz''), which strictly speaking designated only the wes ...
, in the Netherland church there on 14 May 1622, by whom he had several children, most of whom did not survive infancy. These were Anna (
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
, 1623–1624), Anna (
Montfoort
Montfoort () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. Montfoort received city rights in 1329.
Population centres
The municipality of Montfoort consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or district ...
, 1625), William (
Amersfoort
Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...
, 1628-1646/47), Marie (Amersfoort, 1631), Phillip (Amersfoort, 1633-1633), Susanna (West Lexham, 1635), Luke (Foulsham, 1638) and Philip (
Hackney, 1641). Their son and surviving heir
Philip
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
became MP for
Dunwich
Dunwich is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast.
In the Anglo-Saxon period, Dunwich was t ...
. The General's wife Maria Skippon died at Acton on 24 January 1655/56, and had a monument in the church there. There was a second marriage, for his widow Dame Katherine Skippon is first-named in his will written at
Acton Acton may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Mount Acton
Australia
* Acton, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Acton, Tasmania, a suburb of Burnie
* Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton
Canada ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
, which leaves lands there, and at
Bletchley
Bletchley is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated in the south-west of Milton Keynes, and is split between the civil parishes of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and West Bletchley.
Bletchley is best known ...
, Buckinghamshire, and in Norfolk and Suffolk. The will also refers to his son Philip and daughters Anne Bragge, Mary Skippon and Susan Meredith. Susan was the wife of
Sir Richard Meredith, 2nd Baronet
Sir Richard Meredith, 2nd Baronet (died 1679) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1656 to 1659.
Meredith was the son of Sir William Meredith, 1st Baronet of Leeds Abbey, Kent and his wife Susanna Barker of London. H ...
of
Leeds Abbey
Leeds Priory, also known as Leeds Abbey, was a priory in Leeds, Kent, England, that was founded in 1119 and dissolved in 1539. A mansion was later built on the site of the priory; it was demolished in the late 18th century. The site of the form ...
, Kent.
[E. Hasted, ''The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent'', Vol. II (Author/Simmons and Kirkby, Canterbury 1782)]
pp. 481-82
(Google).
References
Attribution
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skippon, Philip
1600s births
1660 deaths
New Model Army generals
English military personnel of the Eighty Years' War
Parliamentarian military personnel of the English Civil War
English MPs 1654–1655
English MPs 1656–1658
English MPs 1659
Honourable Artillery Company officers
London Trained Bands officers
People from Breckland District
Military personnel from Norfolk
People from Broadland (district)